Ok, Here I go again admitting I put a (gloved) finger in a baby's mouth at
times...

One thing I do that may be interesting to new LC's - I hold the baby (over a bed
or with mom's arms as backup) in many different positions while doing the suck
check.  I start in the usual Madonna hold, then put the baby more vertical, then
prone, at times even on one side then the other.  It has amazed me how
differently they suck as their body position changes.  Then, when I find the
position they suck best in (hopefully not flat on their backs), I try to
position them at the breast in that same position.  (Which can lead to some
interesting gymnastics for the mom.)

The point is, if I can get kiddo to latch on and nurse even "once" in a more
effective way, (baby will milk the breast instead of doing whatever he/she was
doing, and get rewarded with a good squirt of milk), he/she is are more likely
to repeat it - even in the more conventional positions.

Jeanette Panchula, BSW, LLLL, IBCLC, RN
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